The U.S. Supreme Court signaled its approval of citizen recording of police officers by rejecting an Illinois prosecutor’s appeal for enforcement of an anti-eavesdropping law.
The decision leaves in place a lower court’s ruling that the law violates free speech rights to record officers performing their duties. The law set out a prison term of 15 years.
The American Civil Liberties Union had filed a lawsuit in 2010 against Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to block prosecution of ACLU staff for recording police officers performing their duties in public places, reports the Chicago Tribune.